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Monday, July 4, 2011

Europe attractive despite Greece

Vikram Barhat

he hugely unpopular and controversial €28-billion Parliament-approved austerity plan aimed to bring Greece back from the brink of economic disaster has caused much chaos in the country. But for a nation plagued by dire budget problems, the austerity package of spending cuts and tax hikes is only the tip of the iceberg, experts point out.

“[The austerity programme] will definitely hurt depending on the extent of the tax increases, the wage cut and spending reductions,” said Serge Pepin, head of investments, BMO Investments Inc. “The demonstrations we’ve seen so far [and] the wildcat strikes, that’s going to continue.”